"This meal was every bit as wonderful as they serve at the Grand Hotel Mackinac Island!" Carol, Highland, WI

Our beautifully presented candlelight breakfast served in our Scottish Highland dining room is the highlight of an enjoyable stay at Brambleberry. We serve a multi-course breakfast much like an elegant, leisurely dinner party. On weekends, early risers will find coffee, tea, cocoa and hot cider waiting for them on the dining room buffet. This along with Sherry's yummy homemade jams and bread for toasting will satisfy early-morning cravings until breakfast is served.

We serve a full, hearty breakfast, many of our menus being adapted from English, Scottish or Irish recipes. We take pride in serving unique and delicious entrees guests normally wouldn't eat anywhere else. We also make breakfasts that use our local produce, most of which comes from our own organic gardens and Sherry's homemade jams. When it's available, guests are usually treated to our tasty, natural homegrown pork in the form of hardwood smoked bacon, seasoned sausage or smoked ham. Many of our breakfasts feature Wisconsin cheese.

The room features a large antique banquet table, able to seat ten. Our windows, with great views of the countryside, are dressed in Chris's family tartan from the Farquharson Clan. A picture of Braemer Castle, home of Clan Farquharson, hangs above the china cabinet which belonged to Chris's great-great grandmother.. Scottish stained glass roundels featuring Highland cattle, sheep, Scottish thistle, a bagpiper and historical figures accent the windows. Chris's whitetail deer trophies are displayed on the walls.

On weekends, our very special multi-course candlelight breakfast is served in our dining room at 9 a.m. For business travelers and guests needing to leave early we can serve an earlier full breakfast in one setting to save time. If you prefer, we can deliver a breakfast tray to your room at any time.

We begin our candlelight breakfast with a fruit and juice course, combined with a sweetbread. We prepare one entree from a rotating menu. Various breakfast entrees you might find on our table are:

Scotch eggs and Welsh rarebit (open-faced grilled cheese flavored with Guinness and mustard)

Welsh bacon and cheddar tart and Irish potato cakes

Spinach and sausage quiche and Irish potato cakes

Herbed-cheese souffle, meat and cheesy-baked hash browns

Fruit-topped Belgian waffles and meat

Caramel apple french toast and meat

Gingerbread or pumpkin spice pancakes and sausage

Ham and broccoli puff and cheesy-baked hash browns

Poor Knights of Windsor (Recipe from 1500s Britain, similar to french toast but uses wine instead of milk) and meat

Full English breakfast, meat, eggs, toast or scone, fruit and broiled tomato

Juice, fresh ground coffee and your choice of tea also offered. We have a large selection of gourmet teas from which to choose.

Please allow us adequate time to plan ahead if you have special dietary needs. We will adapt our menus as necessary to accommodate vegetarians, medical conditions, food allergies or religious reasons. However, we do not cater to extremist dieters who choose only to eat huge quantities of meat or protein.

Recipes

Scottish shortbread

This rich butter cookie is the easiest of all Scottish tea time treats.

One cup plus two tbs. flour

3 tbs. powdered sugar

1/2 cup soft butter (don't even think about using margarine)

Combine all ingredients in bowl with pastry blender. When mixture resembles fine crumbs, knead and press into a shortbread mold. If you don't have a mold, use a pie plate and pat into the bottom. I have also found madeline pan molds to work just as well. If using pie plate, you should score the dough into 8 to 12 wedges.

Bake at 325 for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife and flip onto a cutting board. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to fully cut the wedges. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Bakewell Tart

We experienced the authentic Bakewell Tart at the old original Bakewell Pudding Shop in Bakewell England in 1999. This is almost as good as their top secret recipe, but since we're closer than England, you'll have to trust us.

One Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheet

Filling

1/4 cup raspberry jelly

3 beaten eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

2/3 cup ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Powdered sugar for sifting over baked tart

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Place a cookie sheet in the oven (the warm cookie sheet will help your pastry crust cook more evenly.)

Roll puff pastry out and line in pie plate. Trim edges.

Spread jelly over the pastry. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, melted butter, almonds and almond extract. Beat about one minute. Pour mixture over jelly layer.

Place pie plate over heated cookie sheet in oven. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until filling sets and tart starts to brown. Remove from oven and cool. Sift powdered sugar over the top of the tart to cover.

May be eaten warm or cold.

Scottish eggs

In Scotland, the pubs deep-fry these tasty morsels. These are baked and contain fewer calories.

Ingredients

Eight hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Two pounds ground pork sausage

Two tsp. mace

Two tbs. fresh chopped chives (or one tbs. dried)

3/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Two beaten eggs (add one tbs. water)

1 and 1/3 cups dried bread crumbs

1 and 1/2 tsp. sage

1 tsp. chives

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine pork sausage, mace and pepper. Mix well. Divide into eight equal portions.

Flatten and wrap sausage around each boiled egg, completely covering it.

Combine bread crumbs, remaining sage and chives together. Dip each sausage covered egg into the beaten egg and water mixture. Then roll each into the bread crumb sage mixture.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until sausage is cooked and bread crumb mixture begins to brown. Serve hot or cold.

Brambleberry Fool

This recipe is suitable to subsitute raspberries, rhubarb or gooseberries in place of the blackberries. It fools you into thinking this is a light dessert, but it's rich and filling.

Ingredients

2 cups of sieved blackberries with seeds removed

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbs corn starch

Cook in saucepan until thick. Cool to room temperature.

Whip 2 cups whipping cream and 2 tbs sugar until firm.

Fold in cooled fruit pulp. Refrigerate in serving bowl or individual dessert cups.

English Breakfast Scones

We serve these with our homemade jams and jellies -- raspberry, blackberry and strawberry.

Ingredients

2 3/4 to 3 cups flour

6 tbs sugar

1 1/2 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

10 tbs butter or one stick, plus two tbs

1 cup milk

2 beaten eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.

Combined dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Cut butter in with pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Add milk and beaten eggs.

Gently stir until mixed. Don't overmix.

Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet to make 12. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 400 degrees 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more.

These are best served warm from the oven, with an assortment of jams and whipped cream or clotted cream. (A clotted cream substitute can be made by beating together 1 cup whipping cream, 1/4 cup sour cream and 2 tbs powdered sugar.)

Berry Good Tart                    

(Use your choice of strawberries, raspberries or blackberries to make this dessert. This is a versatile dessert since it’s good with so many berries. It only requires a short baking time for the crust.)
Shortbread crust: 1 ¾ cup of white flour, ¾ cup of butter, 1/3 cup of powdered sugar. Cut butter into flour and sugar with pastry blender until it resembles fine crumbs. Press into a 9 by 13 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.
Gelatin mixture: 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar. ¼ cup of corn starch.  1 ½ cups of water. Microwave in a large bowl for eight minutes, stopping twice to stir mixture (or boil on stovetop) until mixture is thick and becomes translucent. Add ¼ cup of gelatin in a corresponding flavor to the berry you are using. Stir to dissolve. Cool.
Fold six cups of berries into gelatin mixture. Pour over the crust. Refrigerate. Top with freshly-whipped cream or Cool Whip. Makes 12 servings.  

Apple Yogurt Salad

One six-ounce carton of vanilla Yoplait yogurt (custard style)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup Wisconsin dried cherries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
One diced apple (in season we use Wisconsin cortlands or red delicious)
Add ingredients and stir. Enough for two servings. Multiply recipe as necessary.

Chocolate Liqueur Cake

This elegant dessert gets rave reviews from our guests who frequently request this recipe. It’s easily adaptable for other liqueurs. This is an original creation.
Makes 8 generous pieces.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons of soft butter
6 tablespoons of cocoa
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt
½ cup flour

Directions
Beat all of the above ingredients until well combined. Batter will be thick.
Pour into greased 9 or 10-inch springform pan.
Bake at 350 degrees approximately 20 minutes. Test center of cake for doneness. Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for liqueur layer
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup melted butter
2 tablespoons of liqueur (we usually use raspberry liqueur or crème de menthe)
Mix together and spread over cooled cake

Ingredients for chocolate glaze frosting
3 tablespoons of butter
¾ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Combine in a Pyrex cup. Melt for one minute in the microwave on high and stir until all the chocolate bits are melted and frosting is shiny and glossy.
Pour over firmed cooled liqueur layer. Spread evenly over top of cake and let cool.

To serve: Release the springform and cut into 8 or more pieces. For fabulous presentation, drizzle chocolate syrup on the plate, place the cake over the syrup and top with whipped cream. We also add fresh raspberries if available and garnish with shaved chocolate curls or fresh mint leaves.